November 6, 2015

Jake and the Pulp Fan: an interview with Nikki Nelson-Hicks, author of "Jake Istenhegyi the Accidental Detective"

About Jake Estenhegyi: The Accidental Detective by Nikki Nelson-Hicks: Desperate to get out of his debt to the Odyssey Shop, Jake Istenhegyi answers a quirky classified ad: TREASURE HUNTERS WANTED. He signs on with a crew that is looking for the Cross of Trismegitus, a relic stolen by Pierre Rameau, the Pirate King of Honey Island and lost during the Battle of New Orleans. According to legend, the Cross of Trismegitus holds a sliver of crystal called ‘Salt Vitam Aeternam’. The Salt of Eternal Life. This makes it more than just a pretty bauble to Istenhegyi. If it is a twin of the crystal that granted the Lombardi sisters immortality, he could use it to avoid their fate: turning to stone in a hundred years. If it there is only a slim possibility that the Salt exists, he has to take that chance. Unfortunately, Jake doesn’t know that waiting for him deep in the dark bayou is his oldest enemy. But first, Jake Istenhegyi has to cope with a surprise visit from home, clear his name for the murder of an Irish boxer, and continue the façade of Gunn Investigations, keeping the death of Bear Gunn a secret from Mama Effie and the mysterious owners of the Odyssey Shop. Who knew what trouble could come from answering a simple classified ad? Find out in Jake Istenhegyi, The Accidental Detective, featuring the new digest novel BOO DADDIES, BOGS AND A DEAD MAN'S BOOTY as well as the first two Accidental Detective stories- A CHICK, A DICK, AND A WITCH WALK INTO A BARN and GOLEMS, GOONS, AND COLD STONE BITCHES. From Author Nikki Nelson-Hicks and Pro Se Productions.Available at Amazon.com

Gef: What
was the inspiration behind Jake Istenhegyi?

Nikki: Twofold story.

First,
the name. In 1998 or so, my husband was the Detachment Commander for
the United States Marines stationed at the American Embassy in
Budapest, Hungary. We lived there for 18 months. The street that the
school my kids went to was Istenhegyi Ute. Brian and I used to joke
that it would make a great name for a private detective, “Jake
Istenhegyi, Private Dick!”

I
squirreled that away for a future story.

In
2013 or so, Tommy Hancock challenged me to write a story for an
anthology he was working on, Poultry Pulp. The trick of it was to
write a pulp noir story that somehow involved chickens. I sat down,
started doodling around and came up with the idea of voodoo and
chickens. Then I realized, “Hey, this would be a cool time to drag
out the Jake Istenhegyi idea.” And voila! There we have it.

Then,
as it happens, that anthology never hatched (ha) and I was asked if I
would be interested in turning it into a Single Shot Series with Pro
Se. I said, “Sure, why not? Could be fun.”

That
sentiment has gotten me into a lot of trouble.

Gef: Jake
started off with a couple adventures in short story form. Was there
much of a challenge in crafting a longer tale or was this something
you'd been clambering to do with him from the get-go?

Nikki: The
major complaint I received about the Jake stories was that they were
too short. People kept at me for more so I cracked my knuckles,
picked up a pen and said, “Okay, motherfuckers, you want more? You
want more, you hungry hyenas?!?! Here you go!” In hindsight, I
really should’ve gotten the clearance from Tommy to write a 37k
novel as opposed to the 15k he was expecting. That’s why the third
Jake Istenhegyi was released as Volume 1 with all three stories.
Sorry, Tommy.

Gef: There's
a bit of a globe-trotting aspect to his adventures, especially this
new one. How much emphasis do you place on setting as character?

Nikki: Jake’s
childhood was a spotty one where he was shuffled from boarding school
to boarding school. He’s very multicultural in that aspect if that
is what you mean by globe-trotting.

So
far, all the stories have taken place in New Orleans. Right now, I’m
focusing more on characters and action that setting. When you only
have 15k to work with you can’t waste words on architecture and
weather.

Gef: How
have you found your progression as a writer thus far?

Nikki: HAHAHAH,
funny story. When I was a nymphette, I thought that getting published
would be the End-All-Big-Time- Fire-Dance-in-my-Pants moment of my
life. I imagined bags of money would drop from the sky and I would
suddenly have throngs of friends and sycophants that would cling to
my legs like something from a 1950’s space opera. I would be
invited to have lunch with Stephen King and dance naked on a table at
the Algonquin.

These
things have yet to happen.

Now,
I understand that it’s not some mystical magical fairy dust that
falls out of my pen and sparkles up the page. It takes a lot of time,
a lot of tears and lots of alcohol. I like to gauge where I am in the
story by how many black magic marker lines are on my Gentleman Jack
Whiskey bottle.

I
also now know that it is not such a solitary job. There are beta
readers, content editors, copy editors, cover art proofs, galley
proofs.

I
also now know it is a horrible strain to be married to/be friends
with/have as a parent someone who is a writer. When I’m not
writing, I’m a depressive, angry old fuck. When I am writing, I’m
a distracted, angry old fuck. Either way, you’re pretty much stuck
with an angry old fuck.

Gef: Who
do you count among your writing influences?

Nikki: I
grew up on Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Clive Barker. I had
subscriptions to several horror magazines and gobbled up stories with
little to no regard of quality. When I was 24, a boss caught me
reading some splatterpunk shit and he asked me, “Why do you read
that crap?” and he gave me Watership
Down
to read. That started me on a literary track.

I
couldn’t afford college so I would buy second hand college
textbooks on American and English literature and try to educate
myself on what was good and, more importantly, why. It was from those
moldy, outdated textbooks that I found Flannery O’Connor. I love
her use of simple words to convey such depth and horrific imagery.

It
was through the role playing game, Call of Cthulhu, that I was
introduced to Lovecraft. I don’t consider his style of writing so
much an influence as I do the existentialist horror behind his ideas.

It
was through a Marine I met while we were living in Oman that I was
introduced to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld stories. I love his use
of satire and wit. His world building is mythic.

Neil
Gaiman’s use of myth and how he twists it to conform to a modern
telling is inspiring. American
Gods
is one of my favorite books.

Gef: What
do you consider to be the saving grace of pulp fiction?

Nikki: I
have a story:

I
was a writing a story….I don’t even remember what it was or what
it was for but I had finished the first draft. Later that night, I
woke up to pee and as I sat there on the toilet, I heard this voice
whisper in my ear, in a very raspy voice, “That’s a good
skeleton, now throw some meat on it. You are here to make heroes.
Don’t leave it half done.”

I
present that not as a testament to my very shaky mental status (don’t
judge me) but to illustrate what I think the genre of pulp fiction is
best at: Making Heroes. Of all sorts. From gray anti-heroes in
fedoras to the ones flying around in bright, tight underwear. We are
here to entertain. To provide a safe, fun, cushiony place for a
person to escape to from their stressful or dull everyday life.

Gef: How
has Pro Se Press been for you in terms of fostering and promoting
this series?

Nikki: Wonderful.
Tommy Hancock pretty much lets me fly with whatever crazy, cracked
pot scheme I come up with and then we both sit back and watch to see
where it lands.

I’ve
also been very lucky in having excellent editors (Tommy Hancock, Dave
Brzeski and Kristi King) and a hell of a great cover artist, Jeffrey
Hayes.

Gef: What's
the worst piece of writing advice you ever received? Or what piece of
writing advice do you wish would just go away?

Nikki: I
have another story:

A
few years ago, when I was the organizer for the Fiction Group of the
Nashville Writers Meetup, I had a woman who very angrily shouted at
me, “But HOW do you write a story? That’s what I want to learn.
What is the formula!”

“Formula?”
I said. “What you mean?”

“The
formula!” She pounded on the table, scaring the shit out of all the
other people at the Panera we were meeting at. “THE DAMN FORMULA!”

You
know what I wish would go away? All those books and workshops that
promise newbies a formula for a quick and easy way to write a Best
Selling Novel.

Let
Cranky Auntie Nikki ruin a piece of your fantasy world, sweeties, and
listen closely….There is no formula on how to write a good story.
There is no Fast and Easy way. There is no book, no workshop, and no
fancy shmancy MFA degree that will magically squirt a good story out
of your pen onto a sheet of paper.

You
want to know what makes you a writer? It’s really simple: put words
on the paper, one after the other, until the goddamn story is done.
And then rinse and repeat.

Gef: What
kind of guilty pleasures do you have when it comes to books or movies
or whatnot?

Nikki: My
tastes are eclectic. I like all sorts of things and I’m willing to
give new things a go. While I don’t have the patience I had when I
was a kid for really bad movies/books/etc , sometimes it is fun to
watch a really bad movie but only with the right person because
suffering breeds bragging rights.

For
example, take Wolf Cop, a terrible Canadian horror comedy. One super
lazy Sunday while the rest of God Fearing Americans were doing their
weekly tithing, my son and I wasted two hours of our lives watching
Wolf Cop. There are only two outstanding scenes in that movie. The
scene where his transformation into a werewolf starts at his
dick….yeah, his dick. You get to watch a man’s average dick
explode into a super lupine hairy dick before the rest of him wolfs
out into Wolf Cop.

And
then the scene where he finds himself the next morning, in bed with a
dog. The question still consumes us: Did
he fuck that dog?

Gef: What
projects are you cooking up that folks can expect in the near future,
and how can folks keep up with your shenanigans?

Nikki: Let’s
see….stuff that is coming out soon.

I
have a story, Gunn
Takes a Gander,
in an anthology being published by Ron Fortier called, Legends of New
Pulp. In it, I take Barrington “Bear” Gunn, a character in the
Jake Istenhegyi stories, and give him his own adventure before he
ever met Jake. This anthology is a labor of love for all the authors
included as the profits of it are being donated to Tommy Hancock to
help, in some small way, take a bite out of his medical bills from
his recent health issues.

In
the upcoming anthology published by Pro Se Press called The
Adventures of Moose and Skwirl, I have a story called Kids….They
Blow Up So Fast. The
idea is two heroes from two different timelines/worlds (Moose and
Skwirl) are snatched from their timelines by the Powers That Be, are
dropped into situations and then SHENANIGANS. My story drops the two
heroes into a corporate civil war where children are used as bombs.
Literally. It’s good family fun.

Jake
Istenhegyi #4, Fish Eyed Men, Fedoras and Steel Toed Pumps (working
title), will be out in early 2016 in Pro Se Press Single Shot
Signature Series. It will be available in digital format only. In
this story I delve more into the inner workings of the mysterious
Odyssey Shop, pull out an old friend from Bear’s past and wake up a
new friend in Jake’s present. It’s going to be cool.

I
hope to have a new Sherlock Holmes story out in 2016, Sherlock
Holmes and the English Rose.
In this story, I pit the Great Detective up against a number of foes
some of who are real and some metaphorical. How does one fight an
idea? It’s going to be quite a battle of the wits for Mr. Holmes.

In
2016, I also hope to publish my own anthology under my newly hatched
publishing house, Third Crow Press, called Stone
Baby and Other Horrible Things. It’s
one of the many things on the Melamine Board of Things To Do.

To
keep up with me? The best way is through Facebook (Nikki
Nelson-Hicks) where I am neurotically updating my personal status
(don’t judge me) or you can like my author page under the same
name, Twitter (@nikcubed), Instagram (nikcubed) or through my blog,
www.nikcubed.blogspot.com
(which is soon to become simply www.nikcubed.com
once I corner my tech savvy friend to help me do it).

OOOH!
Also, if you are on Facebook, check out a page I run called Dinosaur
Cubicle Fun Time. It’s the continuing adventures of two dinosaurs,
Bert and Skippy, as they try to keep sane in the cubicle farm. I
update it every Wednesday. CHEERS!